Effective Pedagogy
the new zealand curriculum encourages:
Teacher actions promoting student learning
While there is no formula that will guarantee learning for every student in every context, there is extensive, well-documented evidence about the kinds of teaching approaches that consistently have a positive impact on student learning. This evidence tells us that students learn best when teachers:
- create a supportive learning environment
- encourage reflective thought and action
- enhance the relevance of new learning
- facilitate shared learning
- make connections to prior learning and experience
- provide sufficient opportunities to learn
- inquire into the teaching–learning relationship.
Creating a supportive learning environment
Learning is inseparable from its social and cultural context. Students learn best when they feel accepted, when they enjoy positive relationships with their fellow students and teachers, and when they are able to be active, visible members of the learning community. Effective teachers foster positive relationships within environments that are caring, inclusive, non-discriminatory, and cohesive. They also build good relationships with the wider school community, working with parents and caregivers as key partners who have unique knowledge of their children and countless opportunities to advance their children’s learning. Effective teachers attend to the cultural and linguistic diversity of all their students. The classroom culture exists within and alongside many other cultures, including the cultures of the wider school and the local community, the students’ peer culture, and the teacher’s professional culture.
Encouraging reflective thought and action
Students learn most effectively when they develop the ability to stand back from the information or ideas that they have engaged with and think about these objectively. Reflective learners assimilate new learning, relate it to what they already know, adapt it for their own purposes, and translate thought into action. Over time, they develop their creativity, their ability to think critically about information and ideas, and their metacognitive ability (that is, their ability to think about their own thinking). Teachers encourage such thinking when they design tasks and opportunities that require students to critically evaluate the material they use and consider the purposes for which it was originally created.
Enhancing the relevance of new learning
Students learn most effectively when they understand what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how they will be able to use their new learning. Effective teachers stimulate the curiosity of their students, require them to search for relevant information and ideas, and challenge them to use or apply what they discover in new contexts or in new ways. They look for opportunities to involve students directly in decisions relating to their own learning. This encourages them to see what they are doing as relevant and to take greater ownership of their own learning.
Facilitating shared learning
Students learn as they engage in shared activities and conversations with other people, including family members and people in the wider community. Teachers encourage this process by cultivating the class as a learning community. In such a community, everyone, including the teacher, is a learner; learning conversations and learning partnerships are encouraged; and challenge, support, and feedback are always available. As they engage in reflective discourse with others, students build the language that they need to take their learning further.
Making connections to prior learning and experience
Students learn best when they are able to integrate new learning with what they already understand. When teachers deliberately build on what their students know and have experienced, they maximise the use of learning time, anticipate students’ learning needs, and avoid unnecessary duplication of content. Teachers can help students to make connections across learning areas as well as to home practices and the wider world.
Providing sufficient opportunities to learn
Students learn most effectively when they have time and opportunity to engage with, practise, and transfer new learning. This means that they need to encounter new learning a number of times and in a variety of different tasks or contexts. It also means that when curriculum coverage and student understanding are in competition, the teacher may decide to cover less but cover it in greater depth. Appropriate assessment helps the teacher to determine what “sufficient” opportunities mean for an individual student and to sequence students’ learning experiences over time.
Teaching as inquiry
Since any teaching strategy works differently in different contexts for different students, effective pedagogy requires that teachers inquire into the impact of their teaching on their students.
Inquiry into the teaching–learning relationship can be visualised as a cyclical process that goes on moment by moment (as teaching takes place), day by day, and over the longer term. In this process, the teacher asks:
What is important (and therefore worth spending time on), given where my students are at?
This focusing inquiry establishes a baseline and a direction. The teacher uses all available information to determine what their students have already learned and what they need to learn next.
What strategies (evidence-based) are most likely to help my students learn this?
In this teaching inquiry, the teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning opportunities aimed at achieving the outcomes prioritised in the focusing inquiry.
What happened as a result of the teaching, and what are the implications for future teaching?
In this learning inquiry, the teacher investigates the success of the teaching in terms of the
prioritised outcomes, using a range of assessment approaches. They do this both while learning activities are in progress and also as longer-term sequences or units of work come to an end. They then analyse and interpret the information to consider what they should do next.
At Sunnyhills we show quality teaching and learning by:
Learner Focused Relationships:
“Know our People” is a concept we embed into our school philosophy to enable us to provide the best education for all. Teachers know and value all students and cater for diversity. Partnerships with learning at the focus have the biggest impact on student learning outcomes. Strong Home/School relationships play a vital role in achieving success.
Teaching as Inquiry
Underpins all planning, teaching and learning. Teachers work from the New Zealand Curriculum model (P 35 NZC), a cyclical process that ensures that all learning needs are identified, targeted and met. Our Collaborative Inquiry process, updated each term, formalises this in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. Priority students are identified and interventions are put in place so that we can accelerate progress.
To provide for the whole child - “Hauora”:
We recognise and cater for the individuality of every student. A rich curriculum that includes The Arts, Science, Social Sciences, Technology, Heath and Physical Education, Environmental Education and Cultural programmes offers the opportunity to develop strengths in a variety of areas. Varied methods of teaching cater for individual capabilities, needs, talents and backgrounds. We encourage participation and acknowledge the efforts of all.
Striving for Excellence:
An expectation of high standards is communicated on a daily basis. Progress and achievement is acknowledged and celebrated. High standards are also promoted in the manner in which students conduct themselves at school and within the community.
Effective Assessment for Learning Practice (AFoL)
Ensures that all students are able to set goals and work towards achieving these. They can articulate their learning pathway and the success criteria. Sunnyhills students reflect on their learning through sound self-assessment practices and are receptive to feedback from their peers and from teachers. They are able to act on this feedback by setting their next learning steps as they are guided and supported to progress and achieve.
Self Management
Is fostered from the day a student begins his or her journey at Sunnyhills. All students are encouraged to manage their equipment independently and to develop the skills and motivation for self-directed learning. Student leadership opportunities are promoted and valued.
Learning Environments:
At Sunnyhills we provide a safe, fun physical and emotional learning environment. Open communication is encouraged, and staff are positive and supportive. Our environment are literacy and mathematically rich, to stimulate learning. They reflect a high standard if teaching and learning where students’ efforts are valued and shared through display.
Professional Learning - Teachers as Learners:
Our Learning for Life philosophy extends to all at Sunnyhills. All staff are kept abreast of up to date practices and thinking. Opportunities are offered to up skill in areas of interest, with the Board of Trustees often funding this.Professional learning occurs onsite and at outside venues. We harness the strengths of talented staff members who lead us to develop new skills. Our Learning Walks and Peer Pop Ins provide extra opportunities to learn from each other. We sit in on our class Mandarin and Te Reo lessons to build capability. The school updates resources and makes effective use of these to support teaching and learning.
Future Focus:
We aim to produce highly digital literate students who are aware of cyber safety and appropriate digital citizenship practices. E-Learning tools are used to support learning. Each student from Year 3 - 6 is encouraged to bring their own device.
Environmental Awareness and Education:
Sunnyhills achieved it Green Gold Enviro Status in 2018. We value environmental education and employ a specialist teacher as part of our CRT programme. Students are exposed to 90 minute blocks of learning for five weeks each term and are actively involved in tending our school garden.
Collaborative Learning Strategies:
Kagan strategies, shared Google Docs, Reciprocal Reading and group inquiries are just some examples of the collaborative learning happening at Sunnyhills. Students are supported or extended by their peers.
The rigorous self-review and appraisal cycles and the collaborative, flexible staff enable to improvement process to be constant. Central to our actions are our quality teaching and learning programmes.